The Law Cannot Keep Up With Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the six-time Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president may have escaped 'major' charges like murder and the Gangster Act but he may be caught for a 'Minor' lapse.

His eldest son Shakti Sharan had committed suicide at the age of 23 in 2004. Shakti Sharan, a management student, had written in his suicide note that his father did not have time for his children and he hoped he would take care of his siblings, sister Shalini and brothers Prateek and Karan after his death.

“You have not proved yourself to be a good father. You did not take care of us — my brothers, me and sister. When we needed money, you did not oblige. We had to borrow from others.

“You said I would be your representative, but all you want me to do is attend weddings. I hope after my death you will look after my brothers and sister well,” he wrote before shooting himself with a licensed revolver in Gonda.

His neighbours told the media that Shakti Sharan was a very sensitive child, and reacted badly to tensions within the family. Singh who was living in Lucknow returned to Gonda for his son's last rites and told the media at the time that there was a generation gap between him and his son.

Singh has equal support in the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. He withstood pressure from the women wrestlers and the protestors to resign, and after the sports women said they would float their medals into the Ganga, he went on record to tell them not to not return their Rs 15 worth medals, but give back all the prize money they had earned.

Singh had 38 cases against him including rioting,cheating,stealing, Gangster Act etc have been acquitted in all due to lack of evidence. He confessed , however, on a live TV show Lallantop that he had personally committed one murder in his life. He said that he had killed one Ranjit Singh, who along with others had allegedly opened fire during a panchayat meeting in 1991.

Narrating the incident in detail Singh boasted that while he was interacting with a person at the panchayat, gunshots were fired in the air by Ranjit Singh. One of these shots hit his friend Ravinder Singh, killing him on the spot. After this Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh shot Ranjit Singh and subsequently there was heavy cross-firing from both ends.

Singh said in the interview, "I saw that my associate Ravindra has been shot. During my lifetime, one murder has been committed by me. The man who shot Ravindra... I put a gun to his back and shot him."

To further lend credibility to the incident he mentioned that Lallu Singh, current BJP MP from Faizabad district in Ayodhya, was a witness to the incident.

Brij Bhushan had won the 1991 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections from Gonda. He was part of the Ram Janambhoomi movement and named as one of the accused in the demolition of the Babri mosque.

In 2004 the BJP gave him a ticket from Balrampur and gave the ticket from Gonda to Ghanshyam Shukla. Shukla died in a road accident on the day of polling.

He said at the time that his rivals spread rumours that he had got him killed and even Vajpayee had asked him "Marva Diya?"

The BJP expelled him from the party but the Samajwadi party was quick to adopt him and he won the Lok Sabha seat from Kaiserganj in 2009.

Such is his clout that he joined the BJP in 2009 and won the seat on the BJP ticket as well.

It is reported that Singh owns several educational institutions in Bahraich, Gonda, Balrampur, Ayodhya and Shravasti which has become his political and social strength.

And as he told the media,"Earlier I used to touch the feet of Brahmins, today young Brahmins touch my feet calling me Guruji."

Singh is perhaps the one leader who has been able to get away by describing Ramdev as the 'king of adulteration' . He also stopped Raj Thackerey from visiting Ayodhya.

His wife Ketaki is today the Gonda District Panchayat President while his son Prateek is MLA in the 'anti dynastic party' from Gonda Sadar.

Singh was in Tihar Jail under TADA for allegedly harbouring Dawood Ibrahim, but his wife Ketaki contested the Lok Sabha seat from Gonda and won. The case against him was dismissed as usual because of lack of evidence.

As head of the Wrestlers Federation of India since the last ten years his tenure has been characterised by authoritative and strong arm tactics. A former wrestler himself, he had joined student politics in the 1980s.

He openly claimed that wrestlers are strong people and they need a strong hand to tame them, a view subscribed to by many who are familiar with the history of wrestling in India.

Singh is sure that there is no tangible evidence against him and has told reporters, "There is no truth in any of the allegations. Why should I quit? Even if one woman wrestler comes and proves the sexual harassment charge, I am ready to be hanged. There is an industrialist behind it [the conspiracy],"

A case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences 2012 (POCSO) by one of the women wrestlers who is a minor could have taken a serious turn if processed as per the law. The Indian Express, quoting sources, has reported that this case has now been withdrawn.

Under this stringent law, one of the best to protect children in the world, the accused can be arrested for questioning merely on the basis of the statement of the minor.

It is different from the statement of adults because the accused can attribute motives to adult women but in the case of minors there is no provision for 'consent.' However, there is no progress here either.